Eagle fun at Mingo Wildlife Refuge

By NOREEN HYSLOP

Managing Editor

PUXICO, Mo. -- Bald and golden eagles are alive and well and, more importantly, thriving finally in Missouri, according to Kathy Binkley from the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, one of three presenters at Mingo's bi-annual Eagle Days over the recent weekend.

Two eagles were on display at the Saturday event, where every hour a new session began before a filled house in the spacious maintenance shed near the entrance to Mingo Wildlife Refuge just north of Puxico.

Much to the delight of the crowd, which was comprised of all ages of eagle enthusiasts, a Bald Eagle named Phoenix and a Golden Eagle called Aquila, were secured by a five-foot "leash" and perched on a well-protected arm of a fellow presenter as Binkley offered a history of the eagle's presence in Missouri.

The bald eagle was formally adopted as the U.S. national emblem in 1782, at which time there were as many as 50,000 nesting pairs in the United States. Eagles mate for life, and so their numbers are always estimated in pairs. Only the death of a partner, or the inability of the female bird to reproduce, serves as reason for the male bald eagle to seek another partner.

Throughout the mid- 1900s, the number of eagles dramatically declined. By 1960, it was estimated there were only 3,000 nesting pairs in the country.

"They had dropped that significantly," Binkley explained. "Shootings were a real problem and they continue to be, but the number one problem, it was finally discovered, was the introduction of DDT to the environment."

While the chemical served its intended purpose on the land, the runoff in Missouri's waterways proved to be the main culprit in the declining eagle numbers.

"It took awhile to figure out that mystery," Binkley said. "We were seeing mature eagles, but no young."

There was a good reason for the lack of eaglets. The eagles were devouring the fish in the water that had been exposed to DDT. When the eagles laid their eggs, the shells were soft due to the effects of DDT having stripped the eagle's calcium levels. The mature eagles would sit on the eggs and the eggs would collapse. The young never had a chance to

develop.

In 1978, the federal government declared the bald eagle an endangered species in 43 states, including Missouri. Today, there are said to be more than 10,000 nesting pairs in the country due to restoration efforts that began in 1981 when the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Mo., released 74 young bald eagles in Missouri to re-establish them as nesters.

"The eagles imprinted on these regions where they learned to fly and many of them returned to Missouri to breed as adults," Binkley explained.

Phoenix, a massive 14 lb. bald eagle whose wing span measures eight feet, has been in captivity since she was just a few months old. The bald eagle that charmed the audience at Mingo on Saturday was one of those 74 eagles released in Missouri, and is the only eagle that failed to thrive in the wild. Because she was equipped with a transmitter upon her release, officials were able to recognize that she was not moving after only a few days on her own, and she was rescued.

Binkley has worked with Phoenix for the past 19 years. The two have a unique relationship, almost like a mother and child, but based on mutual respect of each other, it seemed. Binkley told of an instance some time ago when she was presenting a similar program and was housed in a building where a dog show was going on simultaneously. As she was presenting her story about Phoenix, a Labrador retriever who had wandered off from his master entered the room and walked down the center aisle toward Binkley. Suddenly Binkley found herself enveloped by the eight-foot wingspan of Phoenix.

"I couldn't even see out to tell where the dog was," she said. "She saw the dog as a threat to me, and she was my protector."

Aquila, a golden eagle also on display at Eagle Days, has a story of his own. He was injured when he was young, rescued and cared for, but he was left unable to fly for any significant distance. Aquila clearly was not as comfortable in front of a crowd as his counterpart was. He is notably smaller than Phoenix, but still an enormous bird to witness in closed quarters. The two, Binkley noted, are not compatible and prefer to be kept separated from each other. In their home at Dickerson Zoo, both are afforded ample space to wander and explore, and both travel with the three volunteers to present educational exhibitions like the one held at Mingo.

In 1995, the eagle was

removed from the list of endangered species; however, the bird does remain a protected species. In 2007, it was estimated there were about 10,000 breeding pairs of birds in the lower 48 states.

Binkley presented a number of "eagle facts" during her presentation. An abbreviated list follows:

* The bald eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the world, with a wing span measuring from six and one-half to eight feet. They stand from three to three and one-half feet in height, and they weigh from eight to 15 pounds. (Phoenix is on the high end of all eagle statistics.)

* Both sexes of bald eagles are identical in color, and size is not a reliable indicator for identifying the sex of the bird.

* Fish compose 60 to 90 percent of the eagle's diet.

* An eagle cannot carry anything more than one-half its own weight.

* Eagles typically fly from 20 to 40 m.p.h. and reach speeds of over 100 m.p.h. when diving for prey.

* The eyesight of an eagle is six times sharper than a human's.

* The largest eagle nest on record was 20 feet deep, 10 feet wide, and weighed two tons.

* Eagles have been known to live 50 years in captivity, and life expectancy in the wild is approximately 30 years.

* It is a felony to shoot an eagle or to disturb its nest. Guilty parties are subject to a fine up to $5,000 and imprisonment up to one year or both.

* It is illegal to possess an eagle alive or dead, or any eagle parts, including feathers, without a permit, which can take years to acquire.